1. Field
Example embodiments relate to image sensors and/or methods of manufacturing the image sensors. For example, at least some example embodiments relate to image sensors including near-infrared light detectors and/or methods of manufacturing the image sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, color displays and color image sensors may display multicolor images or may detect colors of light incident thereon by using color filters. For example, devices such as a charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) may be used as image sensors.
Most color displays or color image sensors use a RGB color filter structure in which, for example, green filters are arranged in two of four pixels and blue and red filters are arranged in the other two pixels. In addition to the RGB color filter structure, a CYGM color filter structure in which complementary cyan, yellow, green, and magenta color filters are respectively arranged in four pixels is used.
The sensitivity of color image sensors may be lower in a near-infrared wavelength band than in a visible wavelength band. Therefore, the image quality of color image sensors may be relatively poor when used in low-illumination conditions. In addition, the use of iris-recognizing image sensors has recently increased. However, since the sensitivity of iris-recognizing image sensors may be relatively low under low-illumination conditions, additional light sources may be required. However, if a high-power light source is used, the eyes may be negatively affected. In addition, the resolution of an image sensor may be increased for iris recognition by increasing the number of pixels thereof. However, if the size of image sensors of cameras included in smartphones is increased, it may be difficult to decrease the size of the cameras or smartphones.